Blackfriars restaurant has been been involved in NE1’s Newcastle Restaurant Week from the outset.

Owner and MD Andy Hook remembers sitting round the table with Stephen Patterson and Sean Bullick of NE1 Ltd discussing the event’s potential and says he took no persuading to sign up and be part of it.

“We’ve seen the event grow each time it is held and people of the city genuinely get excited each time the dates are announced,” he says.

“As a restaurant, we have enjoyed being involved from the start and helping to shape the event, and it would be impossible for any restaurant not to see and feel the benefit.”

Each year, NE1’s Newcastle Restaurant Week gets people and the city buzzing – you only have to look at social media to see the level of excitement with people competing to see how many restaurants they can visit during the week.

“During the event, we tend to get a new batch of diners, with different groups who have seen the advertising and promotion, many of whom are on a budget – but want to enjoy good food in a good restaurant but at a lower price. It’s great to be able to deliver this event for these and other diners.

Andy Hook, owner of Blackfriars Restaurant

“NE1 do an amazing job with this and other events, it not only captures the public’s imagination, it delivers real economic benefits for city centre businesses. We know that during the week, we will be full every lunch and dinner service, which is fantastic at a time we would otherwise be quieter.”

Across the city, the story is the same, the event has great take up amongst the city’s restaurant community – much greater than any other city around the world that offer a similar service barring perhaps the originator New York.

During NE1’s Newcastle Restaurant Week, Andy and the team offer a slightly slimmed down version of their regular menu but at a different price.

He explains: “We don’t change our menu for NE1’s Restaurant Week, it is important that people sample the food we serve during the rest of the year. It is our signature dishes that set us apart and we know that they are popular with diners. “

Andy Hook makes his recommendations of the top menu to enjoy at Blackfriars during NE1’s Newcastle Restaurant Week

TOP MENU RECOMMENDATION:

3 courses for £15

On our NE1’s Newcastle Restaurant Week menu we have four starters, five mains and five deserts to choose from. We know from experience that they all are extremely popular.

I personally would choose our risotto as a starter, made from fresh, local peas and broad beans bought from North Yorkshire – served with a vegetarian cheese – it’s beautiful.

Or, given that risotto has a vaguely Italian flavour and we’re renowned for traditional English fare – perhaps I should opt for our Northumberland Ham and Parsley Terrine served with home made mustard and pickled vegetables.

Main course:

The choices:

We have a very popular vegetarian dish – Pan Haggerty, which has a strong local flavour; or a popular, chicken dish or rump steak but I’d go for the slow roasted Belly Pork, which is cooked overnight with aromatics at about 85 degrees.

The stock from the meat is used for to make peas pudding that is served as an accompaniment to the belly pork with baby onions and summer cabbage. The skin is then fried to get it crispy to order – delicious.

And then we have our most popular desert, and one that has held this position for the past 15 years and my all time favourite and choice for my 3rd and final course: Sticky toffee pudding with salted caramel sauce served with banana ice cream.

To check if there is still some availability at Blackfriars during NE1’s Newcastle Restaurant Week – call the restaurant on 0191 261 5945 to book. For details of other restaurants involved in NE1’s Newcastle Restaurant Week visit www.getintonewcastle.co.uk/restaurant-week